Missed Placed Anger: Re-Worked

When stories are about a time where people face racism and slavery with the moral of the people of this day and age as it brings much trouble as it meets the controversial topic. As people saw the story “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, the story showed the readers a time when Africans were once slaves in America. So, this caused some readers to see this story as supporting racism since it used derogatory terminology and described how treated the black people. Even to this day, this new generation of readers seem to forget what virulent racism is, as they seem to advocate censoring the story “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” or even not to let kids read it since it could make the young readers a racist, but that is just not true. While this story fits within a narrow line where many can make points as to why the story is or is not racist, but it is indeed a story that clearly goes against racism both in the late 1800s and today.

The causes of the story not being racist
can be shown throughout its chapters. The story centers on a kid named Finn,
who ran away from his terrible father to get back to his hometown to point he
faked his death and ran with a slave named Jim who is also running away. Though
the story uses the “n-word,” it never prompted racism since it focuses on the
characters’ moral change. For instance, this is clear when the pair later meet
two con artists who kept their secret of Jim being a runaway slave but was soon
sold off by the con-artist. That is when Finn meets Tom another main character
from another one of Twain’s books, and they rescue Jim. Later, Finn gets back
home with Jim and Tom to learn Finn’s dad is dead and Jim is now a free slave.
Then Tom and Jim went their separate ways, and Finn decides to not stay in his
home-town but to continue traveling to have more adventures. This story again
demonstrates that the novel doesn’t support racism, but instead goes against
racism. Though many people would not agree since people, especially the United
States of America do not want to remember their nations dark past.

Though many Americans are disgusted that
the story uses a racial slur and showcases a part of the countries history that
they wish never happened, the story shows it is against racism by not allowing
people to forget that slavery did take place and that it was morally wrong. As
many Americans grow knowing that racism wrong, they tend to forget that there
are times when people need to show why slavery and racism are wrong, but
instead, they try to hide that their country did practice slavery or just say
it is terrible without reflecting on the past. When Finn says “get up and hump
yourself, Jim! There ain’t a minute to lose. They’re after us!” there is a
clear connection to emotion (Twain 147). This shows a change in Finn’s
character as an uncivilized kid living in the south because he is showing
concern not just of himself, but of Jim, where he could have just been worried
about himself and left Jim behind. Then another point in the story, at the end
where Twain wrote, “We had Jim out of the chains in no time” it is showing that
slavery is not a positive thing (Twain 289). Jim is now metaphorical and
physically freed, he no longer has a chain. This proves the point that the
story is not racist or supporting slavery because a man of color is no longer a
slave or being discriminated by the people around him. Some readers will still
believe it as a story supporting racism, but really this story is about a
victim of racism and slavery.

Another point as to why the story is not
racist is that it brings out the character Jim out as more than a slave. As
Emma Milliken describes, “Huck saw Jim as a stupid, superstitious, escaped
slave,” but that is not the whole story (Milliken 1). When a story is made the
writer needs to show a character, and the readers need to understand the
character fast. In context wise, it makes sense for a man of color to be a slave
and simple for the story as this is for children. That is why Jim seems to be a
stupid, superstitious, escaped slave, though later in the story Jim is more
than meets the eyes. In an article by David L. Smith, he explains, “Yet he
portrays Jim as a compassionate, shrewd, thoughtful, self-sacrificing, and even
wise” (Smith 297). As Smith is explaining Jim is more than a slave at the
beginning of the story, because Jim impacted and changed Finn’s moral and
helped the nurse Tom a thing not many people can or would do and is even harder
for someone that a slave. Where we see a one-dimensional character as a slave
but is actually a full characterized one where throughout the story people
support to see him be free at the end of the story. These parts in the story
point out as to why the story is not racist as Jim becomes free at the end.
Though people are trying to erase harsh words in the story to lessen the
racism, it is not helping people become less racist.

When a harsh word that depicts the reason
as to why racism is wrong is removed or replaced, it does not reinforce that
racism is wrong but removes the strong reason as to why racism is wrong. To
replace the “n-word” with slavery is just making the story lose its meaning as
Michiko Kakutani says, “Nigger, which appears in the book more than 200 times,
was a common racial epithet in the antebellum South, used by Twain as part of
his characters’ vernacular speech and as a reflection of mid-nineteenth century
social attitudes along the Mississippi River” (Kakutani 305). The story is from
a time where the n-word and slavery are common, but one has deeper impact to
the readers psychology since they give the “n-word” more power over them and
the “n-word” is mostly used on black people, and slavery is a word used throughout
history and not just in the United States of America. Another point is that if
the “n-word” is swapped to something less harsh it will make the story lose its
impact on the reader. As Kakutani also says, “Tampering with a writer’s words
underscores both editors’ extraordinary hubris and a cavalier attitude embraced
by more and more people in this day of mash-ups, sampling, and digital
books-the attitude that all texts are fungible” (Kakutani 305). Kakutani is
ultimately stating that if a story of any kind with great writing can be
rewritten to an extent to suit a person’s agenda, then any story can be deemed
racist and changed to a point its loses its theme that some readers connect to.
Then there are people against the story as, Annemarie Hamlin and Constance
Joyner wrote, “The most calamitous, gut-wrenching moment of class occurred when
Dr. Hamlin calmly allowed the word Nigger to flow from her lips. Unless blessed
with large amounts of melanin, one cannot imagine how from zero to twenty
seconds, a trusting smile, willingness to participate, and a steady heartbeat
can turn into a confused grimace, an unwillingness to continue, and
overwhelming heartbreak” (Annemarie Hanlin, etc 13). Though she is against
Huckleberry Finn including the n-word and their class including it, it shows
that the word still causes an impact to people and brings up something that not
many people would like to bring up. That is why the story with the
controversial issue must not be changed as its loses its meaning and people
will not talk about the stuff they necessarily will bring up if it weren’t for
the story and if the “n-word” is replaced people will change it to suit their
needs.

Thus, the story that goes against racism and the ideas of slavery is misunderstood. As some readers believe that Jim being present shows it supports racism and slavery but are wrong as Jim is free at the end of the story. Though dis-proven others will say, Jim, being introduced in the story as a runaway slave is racist. Even though in context it makes sense and his character is more than that as he did an act not many people and as well as a slave will do. Then removing the “n-word” makes the story less racist but takes away the point as to why “n-word” is there and takes away that the story is going against racism. Those are the reasons as to why the novel by Mark Twain is not racist or supporting slavery because it goes against the ideas of slavery and is a story going against racism as a black man is free at the end of the story.